“This situation is unsustainable, as I think we all know, and represents a dire threat to our economic and national security," Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats said Tuesday. | Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Intelligence official warns Trump administration on national debt

Director of National Intelligence Dan Coats used a Senate hearing Tuesday to do something unusual: take a swipe at both the Trump administration and Congress for allowing federal deficits and debt to spiral upward.

Just one day after President Donald Trump submitted a budget that fails to balance spending and revenue in the next decade — and less than a week after Congress struck a spending deal that would drive up the national debt by more than $500 billion — the former Republican senator from Indiana said Washington’s lack of fiscal discipline undermines national security.

Story Continued Below

"I'm concerned that our increasingly fractious political process, particularly with respect to federal spending, is threatening our ability to properly defend our nation, both in the short term and especially in the long term,” Coats said in his opening statement to the Senate Intelligence Committee.

Coats did not mention specific moves seen as driving up annual deficits, such as a tax bill passed by Republicans along party lines last December and touted by Trump as his administration’s most significant achievement. It is projected to raise the national debt by $1.5 trillion over the next decade.

"The failure to address our long-term fiscal situation has increased the national debt to over $20 trillion and growing,” Coats said. “This situation is unsustainable, as I think we all know, and represents a dire threat to our economic and national security."

Under questioning from Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.), Coats acknowledged he was breaking with protocol by chiding the administration and Congress over the combined impact of spending and tax cuts.

Morning Defense newsletter

Sign up for Morning Defense, a daily briefing on Washington's national security apparatus.

Email

By signing up you agree to receive email newsletters or alerts from POLITICO. You can unsubscribe at any time.

“I’m getting a little bit out of my lane in terms of what I’m supposed to do,” Coats said. “It is something Congress needs to deal with, and I didn’t want to come back and preach at you."

"Look, I think I have a responsibility to raise this issue because it does affect the military significantly, it affects the intelligence community," Coats said.

Manchin seemed to concur with Coats’ warning about spiraling debt.

“The only thing that seems to be bipartisan is both sides seem to agree on spending more money without any accountability,” the West Virginia Democrat said.